Opposites, But Both Are Successful

One is stoic, the other a free spirit. One is impassive, the other often animated. One is a product of urban Brooklyn, the other grew up in the far reaches of Montana.

Lenny Wilkens and Phil Jackson may be a study in contrasts off the basketball court, but on it the opposing coaches in the Atlanta-Chicago Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series share a common trait: They are consistently, amazingly successful.

The Hawks' Wilkens is the NBA's all-time winningest coach, and the Bulls' Jackson owns the league's best winning percentage. Also a standout player, Wilkens was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1989. Jackson, a journeyman player, is likely to join him--both were included among the NBA's top 10 coaches in conjunction with the league's 50th anniversary celebration.

Both have coached NBA champions.

"They are very similar in their philosophies, but not in their personalities," said Bulls guard Steve Kerr, who played three seasons for Wilkens in Cleveland. "They both believe in basic basketball--spreading the floor, getting high-percentage shots, playing a solid game. Neither one likes to gamble a whole lot and do a lot of crazy stuff.

"But their personalities are entirely different. Lenny is very laid-back, very quiet, sort of non-descript. Phil is obviously a very colorful guy with a lot of different interests, different motivational techniques. So they're very different in that regard."

Scottie Pippen played for Wilkens in the Olympics--Wilkens was a U.S. assistant coach in 1992 and the head coach in '96. "They have a lot of similarities," he said. "They do all their teaching and preaching in practice. When you get in a game situation, they pretty much let you go and play and expect you to execute."

Yet, for all their success, Wilkens and Jackson are both grossly underpaid, at least according to the current trend of awarding huge contracts to coaches of lesser professional stature, if not totally unproven. Recent Indiana hire Larry Bird trails Wilkens by, oh, 1,070 victories, but he'll be paid a reported $4.5 million a season, or more than three times what Wilkens ($1.4 million) will make in the final year of a five-year, $6 million deal he signed in 1993.

Even Jackson's $2.7 million, one-year contract pales in comparison with Rick Pitino's 10-year, $70 million deal with the Boston Celtics, or Larry Brown's five-year, $25 million package from the Philadelphia 76ers. The New Jersey Nets were paying John Calipari $3 million a year before he ever coached an NBA game, and he didn't exactly take the league by storm, going 26-56 in his first season.

Wilkens, in his 24th season, has (deep breath) a 1,070-876 career regular-season record. He has taken 15 teams to the playoffs, had eight 50-win seasons and led Seattle to the 1979 NBA championship. He has participated in more NBA games (3,235) as a player and coach than anybody, replacing Red Auerbach as the game's all-time winningest coach with victory No. 939 on Jan. 6, 1995. Less than a year later he reached the 1,000 mark.

Wilkens was the only man included among both the NBA's 50 Greatest Players and Top 10 coaches.

"I've learned how easy it is to be coached by a very good coach in terms of how he runs the team and coaches the right way," said Hawks forward Christian Laettner, who was known as a malcontent when he played for Minnesota. "Lenny handles a lot of things about the game the right way. All of those things lead to us winning and being successful. He deserves the credit."

As for Jackson, he has had only eight seasons to compile his resume, but it is still quite long and impressive. Jackson has a 483-173 career regular-season record for a winning percentage (.736) that's the league's best ever. His playoff winning percentage (.729) is almost identical and also the league's best, and with 86 playoff victories he trails only Auerbach and Pat Riley. He reached 200 wins in just 270 games, fastest in league history, and he won NBA championships with the Bulls in 1991, '92, '93 and '96.

The key to Jackson's success? "I've got Michael Jordan," he says, as if that's all there were to it.

That's quite a start, of course, but the reasons go beyond Jordan. When Jordan retired before the 1993-94 season, few gave the Bulls a chance to remain among the league's elite. Jackson directed them to a 55-27 record. His Zen-like qualities, offbeat yet studious personality and unpredictable motivational techniques have inspired loyalty from players as disparate as Dennis Rodman, Jordan and Brian Williams, a recent signee who said he has never played for a better coach. Jordan has hinged his return next season on Jackson's.

Jordan also has impacted Wilkens' career, albeit in a different way. Jordan hit "The Shot" in the deciding fifth game of a first-round playoff series with Cleveland in 1989 to send Wilkens and the Cavaliers home. He hit another buzzer-beater in Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference semifinals to seal a sweep. Wilkens resigned from the Cavaliers shortly thereafter.